Automatic feed mechanical pencil round-up, my overall impression

General Mechanical Pencil Discussion
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I’ve used these 0.5 mm automatic feeding pencils, together (sequentially) in one session:
Uni Kuru Toga Dive
Pentel Orenz Nero
PILOT Automac
Faber Castell TK-matic
Faber Castell alphamatic

Automatic-pencil-demo
Automatic-pencil-demo1975×2400 452 KB

Criteria: Tip smoothness across paper, tip solidity, ease of auto feed, and overall feel

I rank them as follows:

  1. Faber Castell Alphamatic
  2. PILOT Automac
  3. Faber Castell TK-matic L
  4. Uni Kuru Toga Dive
  5. Pentel Orenz Nero

I am biased, because I’ve not experienced every automatic pencil available. I’m sadly unable to have a Pentel QX-PN305 on hand, reputedly the greatest automatic pencil of all time. I’ve also not been able to use a PILOT H-5005 or a Pentel PN3015 Technomatic. But these 5 on display above are among the top regarded automatic mechanical pencils you can buy today (or find used on the auction marketplaces).

I’m also not of mind to mandate a pipe guide or clutch forward design. The latter lends itself more to general writing vs. drafting. But technically, all of these pencils do just fine with normal writing. They’re all great writing instruments.

BEST: The Faber Castell alphamatic is a legend. It was also a pencil I sought after for a long time, not wanting to pay over going market rates to get a fine condition one. I eventually got one for a decent price. And it has fully lived up to my expectations. It is the right idea for simplicity. Without a pipe guide, you end up with the rounded tip of a well angled clutch shield that provides good glide on the paper. And the auto-feed functions with hardly any detection. The lead is there and it keeps coming.

2ND: I put the PILOT Automac a close second. The tip set-up feels very similar to the alphamatic. I cannot articulate exactly why it’s not #1. But it’s close. At least my example (some have reported annoying tip wobble–my two examples don’t suffer it).

3RD: The Faber Castell TK-matic L is another legend. This one uses a pipe guide. FC was smart about avoiding a chisel edge on the guide rim, with just a touch of chamfering. The tip isn’t quite as smooth as the alphamatic, but then it sports the pipe guide for more versatility. It can do drafting work, while the alphamatic isn’t suited for it.

4TH Why is the fabled Kuru Toga Dive at #4? It’s a terrific pencil in so many respects. And while I do not get a tip “wobble” effect (side to side) there is a slight vertical movement. In my book, the ideal is a firm lead with no easily detectable movement when lead touches paper. But, once you get used to that quality? Well, this is a remarkable pencil with a supreme mechanism unlike any other. You do not need for the pipe guide to drag on paper to trigger the lead auto-feed. My only gripe is that Uni Ball Co opted for an all plastic body. It just feels a bit cheap on first impression. Clearly the mechanism is the big value here. I really wish a little more substantial material was used. But the automatic lead advancement upon uncapping is a nifty feature. Magnetic closure of capping and posting is terrific. If sold at $40 USD, it’s a great value. Sadly, there was a horrible pricing fiasco due to Uni Ball Co failing to adequately deal with scalpers. It’s still $98 brand new, and occasionally on discount (down to $60 USD). I bought mine from Yoseka Stationery during the dry periods, for $72 shipped. Still overpriced… but I’m glad I have it.

5TH: The Pentel Orenz Nero. It’s the best value here, with available pricing as it is today. Once teased at first in a limited edition color commanding upwards of $100, you can now buy these on sale for about $15 USD. Even cheaper when lightly used (although shipping kills the price advantage). Like the TK-matic, it requires the pipe guide to contact paper to trigger the auto-feed. But somehow, it’s not as smooth. I find myself periodically coaxing the lead out manually. And then why bother with automatic? I expect with a softer lead it’ll be smoother.

FINAL COMMENT:
Overall, this is more of a curiosity for me. I’m not a big fan of automatic lead feed. I don’t think it’s really necessary. This isn’t like cars with automatic shift vs. manual shift. The effort to advance lead isn’t hard. The only time I’d say it’s great is when writing long periods in free hand. The Kuru Toga engine is ideal for that. That’s where automatic feed shines. But otherwise? It’s more of a gimmick. In my nearly 12 years of collecting and using nice quality mechanical pencils, my epiphany came in the form of a body-knock. It’s not the most elegant form of lead advancement. The thought of the pencil bending a little at the middle seems… almost comical. Embarrassing even. But, it does happen in a split second. A brief “vulnerability” to do the business. And that quick easy squeeze of the hand to make it happen means your fingers don’t move. Your pencil orientation remains the same. No winding the thumb up to the top end of the pencil to push. No “shake” up and down. No index finger manipulating a side button or lever. Arguably, one could say the FF-matic “finger flick” is better. It’s great… but not at the price commanded.

For body-knock, the champion in my book is KOKUYO. rOtring is great too. The 900 and their “side knock” (a Mistral redress) are tops. And nobody has a telescoping body-knock like the Artline Shachihata.

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Great review for a great topic, @cytherian !

I generally agree with your list, even though I haven’t played enough with a Kuru Toga Dive or an OrenzNero to fully appreciate all your niceties: the former made it to my hands just recently (but it moved quickly into my EDC set), and the latter has been in the same EDC bag for a while, but somehow managed to escape being grabbed more often as a daily writer. At any rate, I agree that the good ol’ Alphamatics are on a different level, especially when paired with super-soft lead.

As for the “new” Automac, I think I can feel that tiniest little bit of tip wobbling at times, but it is very far from being annoying, and I think that pencil is all in all one of the contemporary greatest: they should have kept it in production for much longer.

Finally, as a (probably terrible) “fun fact”: the highest peak in writing performance I could reach while using a high-end automatic MP has been thanks to a beaten-up blue Alphamatic with severely faded imprint I modded by removing the pocket clip and by trading the original, knurled rear pushbutton — which drags the centre of mass a bit too far from the tip, at least for my taste — with an equally old but much lighter brass button with plain smooth dome from an old MP. It is my most beloved “Frankenpencil”, but boy does it deliver. :slight_smile:

PS: Anyone here with a Pentel QX willing to re-state the obvious, and let us know how much better the writing experience can be? I’d happily trade more than a few of my most relevant items for one QX — even one with a bent clip or minor cosmetic imperfections, if the mechanisms work flawlessly and the cap is there…

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Unpopular opinion: FF-matic isn’t all that it’s cracked up to be either. It is helluva sexy but training your muscle memory to extend a finger to pull back the actuator ring is harder than pulling BACK a finger to press a side-knock button, or flexing your grip on a Mistral. AND the topper: you cannot retract lead by holding back the FF-matic ring and pressing down on the lead.

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Good writeup. Thanks for this comparison.

Alpha and Automac would be 4th and 5th for me on this list. You are lucky that you have no tip wobble in either your Alpha nor your Automacs. I have mint, boxed examples of each that have wobble to drive me bonkers.

I have several Automacs (bought back at $30 pricing) and they all wobble. Don’t want to buy more to find one that doesn’t. But I may track down another Alpha in hopes of a wobble-free experience…

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What I am coming to accept is that the FF-matic is a would-be auto with a spring intentionally too stiff to be activated by the writing process.

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You’re welcome. Glad to contribute. I’ve been trying to find excuses to write more with a pencil. I’m thinking of refreshing my long extinct knowledge of Calculus. :smirk: Or… maybe it’s time to get working on that book I’ve been pondering to do for many years. :wink: Just doodling around on a pad, I can see the Kuru Toga Dive would be superb. While I would like it to be a touch heavier, being so light can be a real asset for long writing periods.

I’m glad to see you enjoy the Alphamatic as well, and also the Automac. It’s really fun to customize your pencil to be configured just the way you like. I’ve not done quite just that, but I’ve gotten pens with long discontinued refills to be writers again by some DIY tricks using the right core refill with spacers and kapton tape. It’s great to put them back into action. My absolute favorite is the PILOT Hi-Tecpoint. I’ll have to do a writeup on that eventually.

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I remember you saying this a while back… and I forgot to ask. There’s still a rear plunger you press for advancing lead, right? So while the FF is there for convenience, when you’re done and ready to tuck it away, a press and hold of the rear plunger allows a manual push-back of the lead. Right? If that can’t be done… yikes. Isn’t the Staedtler Micromatic 777 like that, auto-feed but no manual control at all?

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Man, I’m sorry to hear you got unlucky like that. I was a bit skeptical of the Automac a while back and balked at buying it. There were a number of reviews that were lukewarm, for that reason. But I am starting to believe that maybe PILOT addressed it in a later batch. Both of my examples are good and I don’t feel any tip wobble. At least for now. I don’t know if it’s a problem that ends up being exhibited from use.

My one alphamatic doesn’t have any tip wobble that I can detect either. It feels steady. My writing with it looks fine.

Btw, can you further clarify your experience of wobble? Is it when you write you feel the tip having some lateral movement? Or is it purely holding the tip with pinched fingers, you’re able to feel the tip move when forcing it?

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When writing, they feel sloppy, side to side. It is to the point that I think I can hear the wobble of the tip. Even if I could overcome the tactile annoyance, the wobble makes the writing on the page less precise, which I can’t accept.

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Yes, the only way to stow the lead is through the conventional top button. In that sense, it’s no more practical than a shaker.

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In this sense, I wonder if Uni was on the way to making their own auto at the time of 5050 development but then decided to differentiate within the market with FF. Uni thereby avoided the lead sleeve touching the paper while still allowing rapid lead deployment without grip adjustment. The result is a ruled-line drafting function with the MP in vertical position in a way that pipe sleeve autos do not allow. Autos require the MP to be at an angle to the paper to push the sleeve back. Using a pipe sleeve auto for drafting will require either 1) Knocking the cap, 2) A weird dance with the tip at an angle to the paper to get lead out between drafting of lines 3) Drafting at an angle.

I am not aware of any Uni autos other than Dive (are there?), and even Dive avoids the lead sleeve touching the paper. By a very different path than other makers, Uni arrived at auto.

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We’ll likely never know, unless a former Mitsubishi / Uni product manager comes forward.

I’d really like to know just how well selling were the early high-end automatic feed pencils. The PILOT Automac E500, and Automatic weren’t exorbitantly priced. The E500 reputedly had some physical faults. But the Automatic was quite robust. ¥3000? How could you go wrong. But why are they so scarce? Did they not sell well, causing fewer to be made? Who knows.

Given Uni engineering trends, I suspect they saw it more prudent to offer something other companies didn’t–the FF-matic. And in addition, no pesky automatic feed mechanism to perfect for all the requirements. One could also argue the FF-matic is superior because the human brain is deciding on when more lead is needed and the effort required is so slight. And you keep that rock-solid tip at whatever angle you please. No complicated mechanism that can go wrong.

Like I pointed out before, in my experience there is a slight bit of vertical lead travel with the Dive. It’s not a total deal breaker… but it requires the user to adjust to this nuance. My guess is that down the road, Uni will eventually get it right such that the movement is virtually undetectable. I don’t know if that’s even possible, though. And I would wager that the number of people giving this feedback to Uni is really small, relative to the quantity sold.

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Hopefully, with the next generation Dive, Uni will improve the noticeable vertical travel just as they have continued to refine the KT mechanism to the point that Metal is really amazing.

However, Uni may hang their hat on the Dive as is and keep churning out colorways for a couple decades.

I am personally more interested in a different form factor than mechanism improvements. Is it too much to hope for both?

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Precisely. The standard option of the rear pushbutton is always there, and is supplemented by the FF-matic mechanism. Double control of the feed. Excellent solution.

As for the muscle memory, I think it is a matter of (subconscious) personal preference: when I tried the FF-matic mechanism, my index fingertip felt so powerful when it had the lead advance with such a delicate gesture, that the act itself has become a moment of pure joy.

(Also, I like weird contraptions in pencils, and within the bunch of lead feed systems I enjoy, the FF-matic is just one of the many: the level of control one can achieve e.g. by a continuous twistaction feed such as in the Uchida Drawing Sharp D is probably even more subtle than what the FF-matic can do, or the regulator on a Staedtler REG / KT Dive…)

On the other side, getting back to knocking the rear button on a standard pencil to advance the lead feels vaguely under-optimised right now — but I do it nonetheless, especially on pencils which themselves make the act of pushing fun and pleasant. :smiley:

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IIRC there was a Mitsubishi automatic, but it is a low-range plastic cheapo, so probably made elsewhere. Someone here will remember the model…

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Analog (continuous) lead action by twisting is of course extremely precise. You can easily control exactly how much lead is propelled. However, for continuous writing, it can be a burden unless you can get yourself into making a certain repetitive motion and then not think about it. Because for me, I see expending more mental effort. You have to look at the tip and twist, then decide to stop once the lead is out enough. With digital advancement (push a button, operate a mechanism), it’s a basic motion that doesn’t really matter how much pressure you apply beyond making the function happen (i.e. you can push harder on the button, but the same amount of lead is coming out). That makes it easy to become an autonomic action. You’re writing… and you begin to see your lead mark is slightly reduced in darkness, because the amount of lead beyond the tip is less. PUSH (or squeeze, pull, flick) without looking. Now you’ve got more lead and you keep going.

This brings up another consideration–lead advancement amount. We all know about the Staedtler Regulator. And OHTO Promecha. The ability to “fine tune” how much lead comes out when you click. While there is a kind of “lead advance standard length”, some pencils have a tendency to put out a little less or a little more. And I’ve come across some pencils that pump out too much. Or, are slightly inconsistent–first push is a little bit short, then next press is a little bit long (almost like overcoming the constant pressure that was applied to the lead in the last cycle). But then there’s personal preference. Maybe you just don’t like the typical amount propelled. I tend to find myself clicking twice once lead is low. But if I could adjust it so it’s always one click… not bad. With some pencils, I click once and it’s “almost” enough, but the second click goes too far. I then have to tuck the lead back in a little. And that’s what’s nice about the “regulator” functionality.

So, if there’s one thing I could say that I really like about automatic lead advancement is that it tends to be conservative. Lead won’t advance too far. If anything, it’ll be less than a normal full push. And that’s because the mechanism will just keep doing its job, providing just enough lead with which to write.

There’s one other mechanism… the twist ratchet. So when you twist it’s not analog. There’s a spring loaded ratchet mechanism you turn then release and lead advances. I generally don’t favor that type because it’s a little awkward. For most people, it would be done using two hands. But if you work at it, you can figure out how to do it one-handed. I did that with two of them that I’ve got… A PILOT Grandee and a LAMY Scala. And it’s not bad. Lead advancement amount on those two is good.

I do have to confess that for writing, I generally use my pencils for short tasks, not long multi-page tasks. And so, even if I have to futz a bit with getting the right amount of lead… it’s not a big deal. I don’t have to do much lead advancing before my task is done. So it would be interesting to hear from those of you who may spend a decent amount of time writing multiple pages with a pencil and invoke lead advancement a lot.

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You pointed out many relevant aspects, and I really like how you framed the grand debate between analog and digital in the context of lead feed for mechanical pencils: “digital” feed guarantees consistency and repeatability, I can’t argue with that.

Also, I agree that the pre-set quantity of protruded lead can be wildly off sometimes: a TK-matic I have loves spitting a longer segment of lead, and it always needs a tiny push-back to provide the correct length. I see this as part of its charm, but drafting is just a hobby for me, whereas I’d probably have other thoughts if I had to waste precious seconds adjusting the lead every time I dispense some.

As for the twist-ratchet: the closest I have to the models you mentioned is a Pelikan D75 with blue enamel, which works as you described. It’s a fantastic compromise between analog and digital, and the pencil itself is beautiful, but unfortunately the structure of the inner mechanisms tends to ruin its balance (too much weight on the rear section), so either I change my hand grip to compensate — thereby writing more as if I’m handling a fountain pen, with a higher position of the fingers — or I simply get frustrated by the writing position, and switch to a more traditional item.

I wonder whether this issue is present also in your Pilot and Lamy, or it is just a case of bad luck with the only pencil I have sporting the twist ratchet feed system (also, I admit I prefer placing my fingertip reasonably closer to the writing end).

Thanks for the thorough exposition, and for the analog/digital idea; I think I’ll steal that detail for some lectures about computers and their history I’ll have to give: it’s just great. :slight_smile:

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The QX is better with a B grade. It is a rather light pencil when compared to other Hi-Grade autos and a few times you’ll see yourself writing with the lead pipe with just a sniff of lead or none at all — but that happens with almost every one of them, so idk… having a push button on a automatic pencil is not as redundant as it sounds. The QX is the #1 but you probably could include the Technopress in a list of pencils where THAT doesn’t happen (I can’t confirm this now because I stupidly sold mine.)

I pretty much agree with Gary @cytherian in his assessment but I’d gently lean to put the TK-Matic L on top of that list. The Alphamatic is a fantastic pencil, possibly the best of all autos (I absolutely love my Alpha Bronce it writes like no other pencil), but the TK-Matic L has a slightly better balance:

Whereas in the Alpha the centre of mass is right in the middle of the pencil

—o—

which sort of reduces the weight of the metal when writing (nothing wrong with that), the TK-Matic L has its centre of mass pushed a little to the front

—–o–

which brings the weight of the pencil into the action and imho it feels better while writing even with an HB lead. It’s just a nano detail and maybe I’m biased towards front heavy pencils.

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Thanks – glad you found that helpful and insightful. :blush:

Sorry to hear that your TK-matic pushes out too much lead. I wonder what causes that. I’ve got two of the “L” model and they seem to put out about the same amount. I tend to find they’re a little restrained. I sometimes just want a little more lead extended so I’ll push once.

The LAMY Scala and PILOT Grandee feel pretty balanced. I didn’t sense an imbalance. But if you’re one to prefer a little forward heavy, then these wouldn’t be favorable.

Regarding the analog/digital comparison, what’s your idea on using that in comparison to computers? Like going from analog slide rule to digital mechanics? What grade level would be the lecture? Just curious. :nerd_face:

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Did you try swapping the old lead sticks for new ones?